Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is in “active discussions” for a potential sale as the company wrestles with an increasingly dire financial situation.
The company, which owns Crackle and Redbox and a myriad of other media assets, issued a filing late last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing that it was in jeopardy of being delisted by Nasdaq.
The company is in the situation after acquiring Redbox in 2022 for $50 million in stock and assumption of $325 million in debt. Add on top of that a shaky media environment with cratering ad revenue and quarterly losses, and the company’s future is very much in the air. In August, CEO William J. Rouhana said that the company was holding a strategic review to evaluate its opportunities, which is business speak for putting itself up for sale.
The latest disclosure suggests that there are at least some interested takers.
Chicken Soup is hoping its Redbox business can see a boost from Netflix shutting down its DVD mailing business, which formally ceased on Friday.